Awkward Social Engagements on a Sunday
by atlee
Summary: There's nothing like a nice dinner with friends and family. If there is, Ellie Woodcomb hopes to never experience it. Now with a more "ending-y" ending.
1. Chapter 1

_This is kind of a follow-up to "Conversations on a Saturday," a two-parter I wrote a while back. This kind of picks up where that left off- It's post-Ring, and Intersect 2.0 Chuck has finally earned the grudging respect of Casey. As a result, they've been spending a lot of time together. Sarah has been somewhat left out, due to some leftover awkwardness between her and Chuck. She's found an unlikely sympathetic ear in Chuck's bro-in-law, Devon. And Morgan has been struggling to survive his Hawaii experience. All of which is about to come to a boil._

_I don't own Chuck, but I have "owned" some awkward social engagements._

**Awkward Social Engagements on a Sunday**

1. The Set-up

Normally, Ellie Bartowski Woodcomb loved working in the kitchen. It allowed her to be busy without the frenzied life-and-death stakes she faced while working at the hospital. She could be creative, which was something generally frowned upon in the medical profession. And it allowed her to do something nice for the people she loved.

Morgan Grimes was not one of those people. Which was why she hadn't been overly excited about cooking a welcome home dinner for him. But Chuck had insisted, and at least Morgan was easy to cook for. So she shoved the chicken in the oven, and figured the rest of the afternoon would be spent relaxing on the couch with her favorite magazine.

The distant sound of a conversation interrupted her reverie. She looked outside the kitchen window, and noticed her husband standing outside. He was talking to Chuck's girlfriend Sarah. She was glad to see this, because Sarah had always seemed slightly uneasy around her and her husband, even though she had been dating Chuck for nearly two years. So, she didn't really feel too guilty when she craned her neck in an effort to hear what they were saying.

"You know we can't tell her about this," Ellie heard Sarah say.

"I know, I know," Devon responded. "I just hate lying to her. I feel like I'm betraying her."

"I understand. And I know we never intended for this to happen, but what's done is done."

Ellie mulled over the shocking words she had just heard. It didn't make sense. She must have somehow misunderstand them. She pushed away from the window, in the process knocking a pot into the sink. Devon and Sarah looked up quickly, and walked away towards the parking lot.

* * *

Ellie spent the next hour frenziedly scrubbing dishes. She tried not to dwell on the conversation she'd overheard. In her heart, she knew that Devon wouldn't cheat on her. And Sarah, as strange as her relationship with Chuck sometimes seemed to be, well she couldn't cheat on him, could she? She looked down to see that she had nearly scratched a whole in her frying pan.

She glanced at her watch. Chuck should be back any time now. Not that she would tell him about what she'd heard. He had always been insecure, and would be bound to jump to conclusions.

The sound of the door interrupted her thoughts. "Honey?" she heard Devon call.

"In the kitchen."

"Hey, babe. Got the wine," Devon presented a bottle on the counter. "Chuck here yet?"

"Not yet. Haven't seen Sarah either," Ellie gave her husband a searching glance as she said this.

"Me neither," Devon looked down as he said this, twirling the wine bottle on the counter. "I'm sure he's at the airport, picking up Morgan."

"Yeah, maybe. You never can tell with him these days. At least he's more responsible, now that he's working with John." Chuck and John Casey had recently opened a business together. Chuck had tried to explain it to her once, but the computer jargon was over her head. But at least he was applying himself.

"You know, we should do something nice for John."

Devon looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he and Chuck have been spending time together, and it seems to have rubbed off. Chuck finally seems to be thinking about his future."

"Oh." Devon thought about it. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, you know Kelly, the new nurse at the hospital?"

"Uh, yeah. Wait, you want to fix her up with John Casey?"

"Why, do you think it's a bad idea?"

"Well, I…" Devon paused. "I'm not sure he's her type."

"What do you mean? He's a nice guy, and he's single. Is there something you know that you're not telling me?"

"No, no. I just don't know if he'd appreciate it that much." Devon studied his wife for a moment. "You already invited her, didn't you?"

Ellie nodded.

"Well, I guess we'll see how it goes."

"It should at least make tonight a little more grown up, anyway."

"Hmm." Devon put a hand on her shoulder. "Not too excited about tonight, are you? Not happy our old friend Morgan's back?"

"I'm worried _Chuck's_ old friend Morgan might bring some bad habits back with him."

"I don't think you give Chuck enough credit."

"Oh, I'm very proud of him now. He almost seems like he's become a different person these last few months. Starting almost exactly when Morgan flew off to Hawaii."

"Hmm, maybe I should check Morgan's plate for untraceable poisons before he digs in. But I don't think that Morgan was quite as bad an influence as you think. Chuck's more of a go-getter than you realize."

Ellie studied her husband for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, um, well, I mean he was always a leader among those Buy More dudes, right? That must mean something." Devon looked somewhat flustered. It wasn't the first time Ellie had seen him act like this recently. It seemed like he was hiding something. Or maybe he felt guilty about something, and felt the need to defend Chuck's reputation.

Instead of expressing her concerns, Ellie said, "Maybe. It's just that Chuck's been doing so well lately, I hate to think it's going to be all-day video sessions again. And things between him and Sarah seem to have been going well."

"Of course. Wait," Devon gave his wife a concerned look, "what do you mean seems like?"

Before she could answer, the house phone rang and Devon went to pick it up. "Hello. You are? And he's not? Alright." He hung up.

"Morgan's at the airport and Chuck isn't there. I'm going to go pick him up."

* * *

"Chuck? Where are you? Call me back." Ellie disconnected after leaving the message. It wasn't like him to forget about Morgan, even if he had been in Hawaii for the last few months. She shook her head. Feeling bad for Morgan wasn't something she was used to.

The chime of the doorbell echoed through the house. Ellie hurried to the door and opened it.

"Hey, Ellie."

"Sarah!" Ellie pushed the thought of the overheard conversation from her head. "Come in."

"I know I'm a bit early, but I just figured I'd meet Chuck here."

"He's not here, Sarah."

Ellie was surprised by the concern on Sarah's face. "I'm sure he's fine. He's probably at work or something."

"On a Sunday?"

"He's been working a lot of irregular hours lately. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that."

Sarah grimaced. "No, I know. But I didn't think he was supposed to be working today." She looked around at the kitchen. "Can I help with anything while I'm here?"

"Uh, sure. You could slice the bread. The knife is over there."

As Sarah walked over to the knife block, Ellie heard the chirp of her cell phone. She took it out of the charger, and glanced at the message.

"Out w KC. B bak soon."

"It's Chuck," Ellie told her. "He's with Casey. He'll be here soon."

Sarah frowned slightly as she began slicing the bread. "I see. I guess he was at work."

Ellie looked at her. "Well, I guess when you start a business together, it's only to be expected. It is really great that he's finally applying himself."

"I suppose," Sarah said as she quickly sliced through the bread. Ellie marveled at her skill with the knife. Apparently, all the fruit slicing at the yogurt store had paid off.

"You and Chuck aren't having any problems, are you?" Ellie asked Sarah.

"What? No, of course not." Ellie gave her a steady look. "I know he's been spending a lot of time with Ca… John because of work, and I accept that."

"Just make sure he doesn't start hanging out with Morgan again. We can't have that."

Sarah smiled briefly. "No, we can't have that. At least I'm being stood up for work and not video games."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've invited a friend to tonight's dinner. I think she might hit it off with John."

To Ellie's surprise, Sarah burst out laughing. "You're setting up John Casey?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, uh, he just doesn't seem like the setting-up type."

Ellie couldn't understand how both Devon and Sarah had reacted to the idea of fixing up Casey. Did they know something she didn't?

* * *

A moment later, Ellie heard the sound of the door, and turned to see Devon and Morgan walk in. She walked over and gave the returning man an awkward hug. "Welcome back, Morgan."

"Thank you, thank you, it's good to be back." He nodded to Sarah. "So where's Chuck?"

"He'll be back soon, Morgan," Sarah smiled. "He's working."

"Ah yes, this mysterious new venture. I'd hate to think he's gone and grown up on me while I was away."

Ellie decided not to respond to this. Instead, she said, "So I hope you like chicken. Dinner should be ready fairly shortly."

"Oh hey, I'll eat anything you cook, Ellie. Just as long as there are no pineapples involved. That place just doesn't understand fine cuisine."

"So, Morgan, what happened with the whole hibachi chef plans?"

Morgan shrugged. "I guess I just didn't have the stuff. I should have known. Can you imagine me making a living using a knife?"

"Well, we're glad you're back, buddy," Devon clapped on the back. "And I know the Chuckster is excited to see you." Ellie noticed him giving Sarah a curious glance. She decided to ignore it for the time being.

* * *

Ellie returned to the kitchen and continued working on dinner, while Devon and Sarah talked with Morgan. Occasionally she snuck a peek to see what was going on. Neither Devon nor Sarah seemed to be acting unusually. Still, she wished that Chuck would arrive.

She was just finishing setting the table when she finally got her wish. The door opened, and Chuck wandered in. He was dressed in a t-shirt and sweat pants. "Hey sis," he shouted before stopping short.

"Morgan?"

"Hey, bud, long time no see?"

Chuck looked around between Morgan, Ellie, and Sarah before he finally groaned. "Oh God, this is the 19th! I'm so sorry, buddy, I was supposed to pick you up at the airport, wasn't I?"

"You forgot?" Ellie said incredulously.

Sarah went up to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Is everything ok?" Ellie heard her say quietly.

"Yeah, everything's normal. I was with Casey. Nothing to worry about."

Before Sarah could respond, Morgan said, "Casey? You were with John Casey?"

"Uh, yeah, I must have lost track of time. Now, I think I should probably jump into the shower real quick."

"Hurry up!" Ellie called after him. "Dinner's about ready!" Her eyes returned to the living room, to see that neither Sarah nor Morgan looked particularly pleased. She sighed. It didn't look like this was going to be a pleasant dinner.

_In Chapter 2, the fur starts to fly. Please, review and let me know if this premise shows promise, and thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hopefully not everybody got their fill of character angst from last night's episodes. If so, well it's a good think I own _Chuck_ and not them. No wait, that's not right… Well, I was here first, so ha! _

2. The Dinner Starts

John Casey knocked on the door just after Chuck finished his shower. Ellie led everyone to the table and showed them to their seats. Devon sat at the head of the table, with Morgan and Casey on the two sides next to him. Ellie sat Sarah at the side on the other end of the table from Devon, with Chuck seated between Sarah and Morgan. Ellie herself sat the opposite end from her husband. Casey looked a bit surprised to find himself alone on one end of the table, but didn't question it.

A few minutes later, the final guest arrived. Kelly greeted Ellie after breathlessly apologizing for being late. A moment later, she was led to the table and beckoned to the seat right beside Casey.

"Everybody, this is Kelly Deveraux. She just started working as a nurse at the hospital, and I thought she might like a home cooked meal." Ellie introduced her to everyone else at the table, finishing with Casey, though she was disappointed to notice his vague greeting in response.

"Now dig in everybody."

"Great food, Ellie," Morgan said once everyone had begun eating. Or at least, that's what Ellie thought he said between mouthfuls of food. She might have known that he wouldn't learn proper table manners from a place where serving food on sticks was considered the norm.

She gave Morgan a cursory nod, and turned to Chuck. "So, you guys have really been working hard. Going to the office on a Sunday?"

"Well, actually we got most of the work done last night. So today we just kind of hung out."

"Last night? I thought you and Sarah..." Ellie decided not to finish the sentence, as she noticed that Sarah was surprised, and not too pleased, by this as well. It seemed like she would have known about this if Chuck had broken the date with her.

"So, Chuck," Sarah said, "if you weren't working today, what were you and C… John doing today?"

"Oh," Chuck turned slightly red, "we were, uh, playing basketball."

Ellie gave her brother a look. "You mean you were playing video games?"

"No, Ellie, actual basketball. On a court and everything."

"When did you start playing basketball?" Morgan asked. "We hate basketball."

"Well, I've started to like it. Plus, I've gotten a bit better at it lately."

Ellie glanced at her husband. Chuck had once played a pickup game with the Woodcomb family, and by Devon's account, his playing had been 'Not awesome.' She was hoping to see him bust Chuck's chops about it again in his way, but Devon remained silent.

"Well, maybe I'll play with you some time," Morgan suggested.

"I dunno buddy, you never liked to play before. Remember how you were always picked last in gym class?"

"Well yeah, right after you!"

"Well if you don't feel like picking on Morgan, maybe you'll let me play?" Sarah responded, studying Chuck with a level gaze. "Unless you think I'm not up to handling this new-found talent of yours." She motioned across the table. "Maybe Devon can be a fourth."

Ellie's eyes narrowed. "And I can be a fifth. Kelly, do you play?"

"Oh gosh, no. Sports were never my thing."

Ellie looked around the table. Morgan had a petulant expression, matched by Sarah's frown. Casey looked bored, while Kelly seemed to be shifting in her seat. This was not going well.

* * *

"So tell me about this new company," Kelly said to John Casey.

Casey briefly turned his attention from his chicken and shrugged. "Just a company Bartowski and I started."

"Oh yeah? What kind of company?"

"Oh, nothing too glamorous," Chuck replied for John, who had returned his focus to his plate. "We're working on a software package that helps merge medical records."

"Really?" Kelly said with interest. "We could use that over at Burbank General."

"Wait, hold on a second." Morgan said. "Casey, you've become a computer programmer?"

After Casey grunted in response, Chuck said, "No, that's not really his thing. He's in charge of marketing, actually." Chuck looked at Casey. "He's all about the hard sell, our Casey."

Ellie raised an eyebrow, while she heard Morgan grumble to himself, "Last time I checked, I'm a salesman too."

Chuck looked over at Morgan. "Yeah, I know, buddy. But I don't remember you, actually, selling anything, ya know?"

"Hey, I had my moments. Not my fault you did one of your disappearing acts when it happened."

"Disappearing acts?" Ellie gave her brother a searching look.

"Morgan means that Chuck was visiting me," Sarah answered before Chuck could. "He used to do that when things got slow at work. He was always sweet like that."

Ellie noted Sarah's use of the past tense, but decided to bite her lip (and a mouthful of potato) instead.

"So you work right next to Chuck?" Kelly asked Sarah. "That's so sweet?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes. I just started a new job right by Chuck's office."

"Really? So do you work with computers too?"

"Uh, no. Actually I work in the…food service industry."

"Really. That's, uh, exciting." Kelly's response was followed by another awkward pause.

* * *

"Great dinner, Babe," Devon said between mouthfuls of pot roast.

Ellie smiled appreciatively. She just wished her husband's compliments were a little more…formal.

"So, what happened Grimes?" Casey commented, his face displaying a quick smirk. "I thought you were supposed to be a master chef by now? Too much trouble reaching the stove?"

Good grief, Ellie thought. Didn't John know how to act at a dinner? Maybe she should have told him he was being set up.

"Hey, it's not easy," Kelly spoke up in Morgan's defense. "Believe me, I'm terrible in the kitchen too."

Ellie rolled her eyes. She wasn't much better.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Morgan finally responded. "So much responsibility, everybody expecting the most of you. I half-expected that angry British guy to pop out from out of the freezer and start yelling at me all of the time."

"That's ok, Morgan," Sarah said. "You'll find your niche."

"Well, if you keep changing directions all the time…" Chuck began.

"Chuck!" Ellie spoke up. She was glad that he was trying to push his friend, but this was hardly the place.

"I think you should give him a break, Chuck," Sarah said. "It's not like he can just stick something in his brain and suddenly be good at everything."

Casey chuckled. This surprised Ellie because she's hardly ever seen him laugh, and it didn't seem like that much of a joke.

"Maybe there's somebody hiring people to play video games all day," Casey suggested.

"Hey, you think?" Morgan turned excitedly to Chuck. "Whaddya say, Chuck. How 'bout we whip out the 'Call of Duty' tonight so I can work on my interviewing skills?"

"Oh, geez Morgan, I'll have to hook it back up. I haven't played much lately."

Morgan merely shrugged sadly and stared down at his plate.

* * *

"So Casey, I hear the car show's at the convention center next weekend," Chuck said as he helped himself to seconds. "We there?"

Casey shrugged.

"Hey, that sounds…fun," Morgan said. "I could go with you, if I'm not too much of a third wheel, that is."

"Fourth wheel," Sarah grumbled as she poured herself another glass of wine.

"What was that, honey?" Chuck asked.

"You're forgetting we have plans that night."

Chuck looked confused. "Oh, you mean…plans? I hadn't…"

"No, Chuck. We were going to go that new Thai place, remember? We talked about it all week."

"Oh, _those_ plans. Um, ok. But the car show's only here for the weekend. I don't suppose you'd want to go to that…"

Sarah gave him a look. "Hello? Porsche in the parking lot?"

"That's your Porsche?" Kelly asked. "Wow, I should have gone into the food service industry."

Before Sarah could reply, Devon spoke up. "Hey Sarah, if you don't mind skipping the car show, you and I could try that new hiking trail. It's supposed to be…"

"Actually, Sweetheart," Ellie jumped in, "we need to go mattress shopping next weekend."

"Can't it wait, Babe?" Devon gave her a surprised look.

"No, we definitely need to buy a new mattress." You never know when somebody will need an extra mattress to sleep on, Ellie thought to herself. Especially when that somebody keeps making plans with his brother-in-law's girlfriend.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, Sarah," Morgan said. Rather than respond, Sarah took another sip of her wine.

* * *

Ellie had never realized that chewing potatoes could be so noisy, but next to the stony silence emanating from the table, it was deafening. Chuck was looking perplexedly between Sarah, who was shoving her food around the plate, and Morgan, who glumly had his chin perched in his hands. Casey was looking around in amusement, while Devon's occasional attempts at conversation were ignored by everyone. Kelly, meanwhile, was trying to sneakily check her watch underneath the table. Things couldn't get worse.

A moment later, the door rang.

"I'll get it!" Devon practically leaped out of his seat and raced to the door.

"Anna?" Ellie heard her husband say in surprise.

The small woman marched into the kitchen. "Aha!" she exclaimed, pointing at Morgan.


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Chuck. However, I imagine that NBC will offer me one of their late night talk shows any day now._

3. The Downward Spiral

"I knew I'd find you here!"

Anna pointed an accusing figure at Morgan after unceremoniously dropping her luggage onto the floor. Morgan merely stayed seated at the table and stared at her in return.

"Uh, Anna, did you just fly all the way over here from Hawaii?" Chuck asked.

"Well, what do you expect me to do when I found this on my nightstand this morning?" Anna waved a crumpled note at Morgan. "What's the matter with you?"

"Wait, didn't you dump him?" Chuck asked.

"You'd think so, what with logic, common sense, and the laws of nature and everything. But no! This little…toad…dumped me!" She shoved the note back into her pocket. "Now that he's 'America's Next Top Benihana Chef,' he figured he could drop me and find someone better!"

"Top chef? I thought you flunked out?" Chuck said.

"Geez, thanks for the faith, buddy," Morgan grumbled.

"What do you mean faith? I thought you flunked out because you said that you'd flunked out!"

"Oh he's a regular steak knife prodigy," Anna said after she'd caught her breath. "And of course, now that he's let that get to his head, look at what he does! He runs back to his first love. I should have known something was up that night when you moaned 'Ellie' in bed!"

"Oh God." Ellie reached for the bottle of wine, which Sarah finally released with a reluctant pout.

"But no, I had to believe you when you told me I'd misheard. Well I have news for you Morgan, Ellie sounds nothing like Anna!"

"Wait, Grimes is good at something?" Casey spoke up, and then turned to Sarah. "Are we sure there isn't another…" he made an odd circling gesture towards his head. Sarah snickered, nearly falling off her chair in the process.

"Anna, why don't you have a seat," Ellie spoke up. "We still have some more dinner in the kitchen."

"Like I want any part of your boyfriend-seducing food."

"Anna," Ellie said as calmly as she could manage. "Why would I want Morgan, when I'm married to Devon?" Ellie watched as everyone's eyes moved between the two men.

"I mean sure, he spends half his life working out, he uses 'Awesome' as a noun, preposition, and adverb, and ever since we got married he's been acting like he's hiding something, but come on, would you make that trade?"

"Uh, thanks babe?" Devon looked at Ellie in surprise.

"Oh please," Anna interjected. "If you're so _uninterested_, why did you cook him this special dinner?"

"Because he's Chuck's best friend!"

"Or at least I used to be."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Chuck turned to Morgan.

"Well, I can see I was replaced before the plane even took off for Hawaii. Of course, maybe now that you found out I didn't flunk out, you've decided I'm good enough to be your friend again."

"Morgan, you're still my…"

"Oh please, I can see that Casey is your new hetero life mate now."

"Oh God." Casey took the wine bottle from Ellie.

An odd scratchy sound came from the other end of the table, and everyone turned to see Sarah pointing at Casey and giggling. "You're Morgan."

"Oh, have some more wine, _Sarah_," Casey retorted.

"You know, Chuck, it's not like being your friend is always such a picnic either," Morgan said. "I mean how much of that whiny indie rock do you really have to listen to?"

Ellie looked around to see Casey and Sarah both nod in agreement.

"And having to watch that whole soap opera with you and Sarah, my God! I want Sarah! No, I want the sandwich girl! No, I want Sarah! No, I want Jill! No, I want Sarah again! I'd rather drive one of my steak knives through my eye than hear about any more of that."

"That can be arranged," Ellie thought she heard Casey mumble.

"So maybe I don't want to be _your_ friend anymore, Chuck. Ever think of that? Maybe I have new friends, new Hawaiian friends."

"He doesn't," Anna said in response to this.

"Morgan, Buddy," Devon interjected, patting Morgan on the shoulder. "I don't think Chuck is trying to replace you. It's just that he's, well, a lot busier now, and his time is spent with a lot of important stuff."

Morgan merely frowned at this. "Oh, who asked you?" he retorted. "Shouldn't you be off bungee jumping or fronting 'Sugar Ray' or something?"

"Devon's right, Morgan," Chuck said. "You're still my best friend, not Casey."

"Thank God for that."

Chuck ignored Casey and continued. "And yeah, maybe I've got different priorities now, with the job, and Sarah and everything."

"I'm still your priority?"

Chuck looked at Sarah in surprise. "Of course, honey." Sarah merely said a 'hmph' in reply.

"Hey! Remember me!" Anna finally interrupted. "This is about me getting dumped!"

"Well, technically," Casey replied, "We've moved on. Now it's about Morgan getting dumped."

"Uh, Casey, you're not really helping," Chuck protested.

"Not really trying to."

"Anna, please believe me that I'm not trying to steal Morgan," Ellie again tried to take control of the situation. "You guys just need to talk to each other and sort it out. Somewhere that's a little quieter, a little more private, a little more…away from us."

There was another wheezing giggle from Sarah. "You're Morgan."

"You know, your drunk laugh is really creepy."

"Uh, honey, maybe you should slow down a bit with the wine." Sarah made a face at Chuck and poured the remains of the bottle into her glass.

"Oh no, I think we can have our discussion in front of Morgan's friends, his pervy obsession, and." Anna gestured towards Kelly who was seated in her chair with a deer-headlights expression, "some strange woman. But it doesn't matter. Clearly Morgan has made his decision, and I can accept that."

"Is that why you flew all the way over here? Because you can accept it" Casey smirked.

"I flew all the way over here to tell him that I…don't…care."

"Oh that's not gonna work." Sarah slurred.

"What's that?" Anna looked to Sarah.

"The fake 'I don't care' thing you're doing. It's not gonna work."

"It's not fake. I don't care."

"Yeah you do. We can tell. Your cover's been blown." This last part sent Sarah into another fit of giggling.

"Ok, fine, Blondie. What do you suggest?"

You have to control him, of course. Duh."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, look at him." She made a sweeping gesture towards Morgan. "I mean hear you are, freaking out because Marvin over here is running off to Ellie…"

"He is not!" Ellie protested, hoping to at least convince herself.

"I am not! And it's Morgan!"

"That's what I said. But he's not running to her, he's running away from you."

Before Anna could retort, Sarah continued. "And he's running away from his… cooking thing. Think about it. I mean, all this time Marvin's this loser working in a Buy More, without any girls paying any attention to him, he probably figures his life is going to be one big, neverending series of failures…"

"You know, I'm sitting right here."

"Shush," Anna interjected. "Drunk girl is making sense."

"And then boom!" Sarah smacked her hands together with impressive force. "First, shacking up with an actual woman. And then after that, he finds he's actually good at something. So, what does he do? He runs the hell away."

"You know, Sarah," Chuck said, "it kind of sounds like you're talking about…"

"Ha!" Sarah snorted. "Trust me, I'm not talking about you." She carefully pulled herself to her feet, the effect of which reminded Ellie of a cat trying to walk on ice. "So handle him. Control him. It's what he wants. He'll go back to you."

Sarah then turned towards Chuck, and gave him a menacing look, or what would have been a menacing look if it wasn't for her blinking furiously to focus herself. "And as for you. No, I wasn't talking about you, because you aren't a coward. You are the most selfless, brave, giving man I've ever met."

Ellie watched Chuck smile, and found herself grinning in return.

"And it's freaking pissing me off!" Sarah jabbed a finger at Chuck. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe nobody wants you to be Mr. Perfect all the time? Did anyone ever ask you?"

"I'm not perfect," Chuck objected.

"You can say that again."

"Shut up Casey." Chuck and Sarah said at the same time.

"But now you have to be this big shot, huh? Off to save the world. Did anybody ask you to do that?"

"Well…"

"No!" Sarah banged her hand on the table again, nearly losing her balance. "And I'll you something else, Mr. Bart…, Barto…, Mr. Bartooski. You may not think you need me anymore, but you do. Trust me, Casey can't do everything I can."

Somebody coughed in discomfort.

Sarah stood up, and leaned towards Chuck. "Just because you can play basketball now, and play the guitar, and use a rocket launcher…"

"She means that metaphorically," Chuck quickly interjected.

"…doesn't mean you're too good for me," Sarah finished. "And don't you forget that," she pointed her finger at Chuck.

Ellie took all this in with concern mingled with amazement. She'd never seen Sarah like this.

Sarah turned back to Anna. "So you see what we have to deal with? They're either cowardly idiots," she pointed to Morgan, "think they're too good for you," she pointed to Chuck, "or just assholes." She pointed to Casey.

"Wow, Sarah." Devon said. "You feel better?"

"I feel…I feel, sick." She turned around, awkwardly pushing her away from the table, and ran towards the bathroom. A moment later Ellie heard the sound of retching.

For a moment, everyone looked around quietly each other. Finally, Morgan spoke.

"Is there any more chicken?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for everybody's very generous comments on the last chapter. It took a bit of rearranging to get this chapter to fit right. This is the last chapter, and things calm down a bit here. I hope you guys aren't too disappointed by that. _

_I don't own 'Chuck.' I guess I own 'Kelly' though, since I've now used her in two different stories (she appears – and will appear again, in Scenes from a Wedding)._

**4. The Aftermath**

"You'd better let me talk to her."

Ellie studied the worried look on Chuck's face, and added, "Really, it will be ok. I think she needs to talk to another woman right now. You go fix things with Morgan."

Chuck looked surprised. "Are you sure? I thought you always wanted to get rid of him?"

Ellie smiled lightly. "No, you two should always be friends. Besides, it's going to take a good friend to convince him to move back to Hawaii."

"Ah. It all becomes clear." Chuck walked back to the table. Everybody was starting to get up and mill about awkwardly. Ellie gave them one last look, and headed towards the bathroom.

Ellie reached the door and knocked. "Sarah, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm great," came the response through the door, followed by another heaving sound. "I think may stay in here a while longer."

"Ok." Ellie headed back to the dining room.

Returning to the dining room, Ellie saw Chuck and Morgan were huddled in a corner. Somewhat to her relief, they were both laughing. "And Casey couldn't even make it past the first level?" she heard Morgan say.

"Nope." Chuck replied. "He could barely handle the controllers. And then there was the time I asked him who his favorite comic book hero was and he said… Captain America."

Ellie looked around the room, and didn't see Casey anywhere. She found Devon and Kelly cleaning off the dining room table.

"Oh God. He really is from another planet!" she heard Morgan say. "Has he tried to plant his alien messages in your brain?"

After a pause, "Uh, no. I wear a tinfoil hat at work."

"Ah, good idea. So are we going to break out the 'Call of Duty' later?"

"Sure, buddy. But maybe you should see about your girlfriend first?"

Anna was seated in a chair by the dining room table, twirling a spoon through a heap of mashed potatoes. Ellie, who had been taking her time wiping crumbs off the table to avoid moving out of earshot, decided to head to the kitchen.

"Uh, ok, man," she heard Morgan say. "You've got my back, right?"

* * *

As Ellie was wrapping the remaining potatoes in the kitchen, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Thanks for inviting me to dinner, Ellie! It's been…exciting." Ellie turned to see Kelly's somewhat anxious face.

"Yeah, never a dull moment at the Woodcomb household."

"We're like the Waltons on crack," Devon added from behind Ellie.

"Well, I think I'd best be going. I have, um, an early day tomorrow."

Kelly quickly headed towards the door, nearly forgetting her coat in the process.

Ellie turned towards her husband. "Where's Casey?"

"Outside smoking a cigar, I think." Devon gave his wife a searching glance. "I don't think your little fix-up took." He took a towel from the rack and began wiping off the dishes in the sink. "You gotta admit, we sure know how to throw a party, don't we?"

"Apparently putting a bunch of people in the same room who can't communicate with each other has its downside." Ellie paused, and Devon finally turned to her. "You've been keeping things from me." After a moment, she added, "I heard you and Sarah talking earlier."

A brief look of panic spread across Devon's face. "Babe, it's not what you think."

"Relax, I know you're not having an affair. But you still have to tell me what's going on."

Devon stood there for a moment before responding. "I've been trying to help Sarah and Chuck."

Remembering her husband's complete inability to lie, Ellie nodded. He was telling the truth. "No wonder they're so messed up. But why not come to me?"

"It's not that I'm trying to keep you out of it. It's just…"

"Hey, I get that Sarah is a little bit scared of me. What?" She asked when Devon chuckled. "I'm intimidating! Remember how I handled that telemarketer last week?"

"Oh don't worry, you're plenty scary, honey. It's just, maybe Chuck doesn't want you meddling in his life."

"I don't meddle!"

Devon raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe I meddle a little. But at least I'm good at it."

"Hey, sometimes it's better to have an outside party to talk to."

At that moment, Sarah quickly walked past and out through the front door. She saw both Chuck and Devon move to follow her, so she raised a hand to stop them. "You two have made enough of a mess, you'd better let me take care of this." She glanced over at the couch, and felt the tension in the air as Morgan and Anna sat there quietly.

"You two make sure they don't kill each other." She patted her husband on the shoulder, grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the kitchen fridge, and headed out the door.

* * *

Ellie found Sarah seated in front of the courtyard fountain. "Hi," she said cautiously.

Sarah briefly looked up, but didn't respond. She seemed to have sobered up a bit since her outburst.

"You are you feeling?"

"Embarrassed," Sarah answered quietly. After Ellie handed her one of the waters, she added, "I'm so sorry to ruin your dinner party."

"Oh, I think this one was doomed from the start. You were just the cherry on top." Ellie sat down beside Sarah, and they both stared at the night sky for a bit.

After a while, Ellie said, "You know, I was worried that you were having an affair with Devon."

Sarah looked at her in surprise. "Really?" After a moment, "I'd never do anything like that to you."

"I know." Ellie took a sip of her water. "I figured as much. Back there, you yelled at Chuck, Morgan, and John, but not Devon. I figured, anybody involved with my husband wouldn't have any trouble finding something to yell at him about."

Sarah smiled. "He's just been somebody to talk 's all."

"Sarah, you really need some female friends."

"Tell me about it. Most of Devon's advice sounded like they came from self-help books."

"Yeah, he's a regular rock-climbing Dr. Phil." Ellie took another sip of water. "You can talk to me you know. Just because Chuck's my brother doesn't mean I'm gonna rat you out."

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm going to give you some advice anyway. This whole woman of mystery thing you've got going isn't healthy. Keeping things bottled in just leads to, well, tonight."

"And I think it's rubbed off a bit on Chuck, which is the one change in him I'm not thrilled with. Every other change I've seen in him, his finally becoming confident in himself, his finally leaving the Buy More and starting a business, that's because of you."

"I don't think you're giving Chuck enough credit."

"Oh, Chuck's a good person and I love him and all. Officially, I respect and encourage him making his own decisions."

Ellie gave Sarah a pointed look. "Off the record, though, I don't care what you do to make sure you two work. You should follow your advice to Anna. Control him, change him, handle him, whatever. Don't let him do something stupid or get stuck in a rut, like he did after Bryce and Jill. Just be his controller, his…handler."

Sarah gave Ellie a funny look. "What? I'm not going to let you two screw this up, and if Chuck's self-respect is the price to pay, then I'm fine by that. For now, you just need to talk to him. Maybe in a more private, sober way, but just talk to him."

"And if you don't, I'll lock the two of you up in a broom closet together until you do."

"You're a lot more ruthless than I realized, Ellie."

Ellie shrugged. "Sometimes you need to fight for what you believe in. Now, how about you and I go back inside." Before Sarah could object, Ellie said, "I'm not letting you drive home, and you need to talk to Chuck anyway."

The walked back towards Ellie's front door. Ellie glanced over and saw the light on in the house across the way. "One more question, Sarah."

"What's that?"

"Is John Casey in love with my brother?"

Sarah paused for a moment before responding. "I don't think so. But it would explain a whole lot."

Ellie nodded as they reached the front door of her house. As they approached, Ellie glanced through the window. "Oh God." She noticed Sarah tense, and quickly stood in front of Sarah to block her view. "You don't need to lose what's left in your stomach."

"What is it?"

"It looks like Morgan and Anna are reconciling."

"Well, that's good, right?"

"They're _reconciling_ on my couch."

* * *

Ellie opened the door, pausing slightly before walking inside. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Morgan and Anna jump off the couch. She looked around and saw Devon huddled in the safety of the kitchen.

In response to her questioning glance, Devon said, "He's in his room." Sarah nodded, and headed off that way.

Ellie turned back to Devon, giving him a look. He threw up his arms in a questioning gesture. "What, you told me to make sure nobody killed each other. They weren't."

As if in response, Morgan and Anna walked into the kitchen, both with sheepish grins on their face. "Hey guys. Everything ok?"

"We'll live."

Morgan looked embarrassed for a moment, then walked up to Ellie. "Hey, um, Ellie? Anna and I don't really have a place to sleep, tonight, so…"

"You can have the couch."

"Really, we can stay here?"

"No, you can _have_ the couch. You can sleep or do whatever you want with it, as long as it isn't in my house. I saw what you were doing on it."

"Oh. Sorry." Morgan looked around for a moment. "Maybe Casey has an extra room for us."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Devon responded.

"Oh, I don't know. I've got the perfect game for him. It's called 'Grand Theft Auto.' He'll love it."

"C'mon Morgan, I think we should have find a place a little more private. We should just get a hotel room," Anna interjected.

"Hey, good idea! We can order room service and watch movies all night, then we can try that metaphoric rocket launcher thing."

Ellie shuddered as the two of them left.

* * *

"So, success?" Devon asked her.

"I hope so. Sometimes it just takes a firm hand."

Devon walked over to the kitchen and returned with the last of the wine. "Sounds like a success all around, then. You're like a more violent Martha Stewart."

"It's what I've always wanted to be." Ellie took the wine glass, and clinked it with her husband.

"So you'd never trade me in for Morgan, huh? Not even if he becomes the world's most successful Benihana chef?"

"Eh, Chinese food was never my favorite. But if he ever masters French cuisine, then you may have some competition."

Devon leaned over and kissed her. "I love you, Babe." They finished their wine, and headed off to bed.

_End_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'd started out writing this from Ellie's POV. And, while she may have some faults, eavesdropping isn't one of them, so I didn't include a final conversation between Sarah and Chuck before closing the curtain. But, as many reviewers quite rightly pointed out, it didn't make much of an ending. So, I figured I could shift to Chuck's POV and re-end the story with something that's, hopefully, a more satisfying end._

**Epilogue**

Chuck let out a sigh as he plopped the book down on the nightstand. The tenth minute spent staring at the same paragraph had finally clued him in that his interest was elsewhere. He could still here some low chatter from outside his room. He thought about getting up and seeing what was going on. Ellie would get mad at him, but he couldn't see how her conversation with Sarah was going to help anything. She only saw the surface of Chuck and Sarah, a surface that was shiny and pretty, and totally fake. Only he knew the truth, that his life was either most of a Michael Bay movie, the cubic zirconium rings sold by the Santa Monica pier, or one of those pin-ups that used to be discreetly left in the Buy More break room.

He was about to get up, when the bedroom door opened. She looked calm and steadier on her feet than when he'd last seen her, though she seemed quite tired. "Hey," she said.

"You ok?"

Sarah nodded. "Being able to drink heavily and sober up quickly is actually a valued skill at the CIA."

"That's good."

"Plus they give us these pills that counteract the effect of alcohol in seconds. I took one when I was in the bathroom."

"You should leave some of those to Jeff and Lester."

Sarah smiled briefly, but otherwise stood there quietly. Finally she said, "So it looks like Morgan and Anna made up."

"Huh." Chuck was constantly amazed at how quickly Morgan could make Anna change her mind about something. If he could figure out how to influence other people like that, and become a bit more goal-driven and a bit less honest, he might have a career in politics. "So what did Ellie say to you?"

"She wants us to works things out. I think she threatened me with bodily harm if we didn't, actually."

"That's my sis. Thanks for humoring her with her meddling, by the way. I know it's not really part of the mission."

"She's worried about you. And me too, I guess." There was a moment of silence again, after this.

Chuck was used to Sarah bottling up her feelings, so he spoke guardedly, ready for her to shut down. "So you seemed to be angry at me."

"I'm not…" Sarah started. "It's just…" Finally, she sighed and sat down on the bed next to Chuck.

"I think I get why you're upset," Chuck finally said after it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything further. "You're worried that I'm becoming reckless and am going to do something stupid because of the new Intersect."

Sarah studied him, but didn't say anything.

"You know, ever since I uploaded this thing," Chuck pointed to his head, "people have looked at me different. I mean, yeah, I can't get it to work half the time, but then sometimes I find myself doing things I've never done before."

"Today, I dunked a basketball. It's stupid, I know, but it's something I never did before. Hell, I don't even like basketball that much. But it made me remember back in school when I _was_ the next-to-last person picked in gym."

Sarah watched Chuck speak, but didn't interrupt.

"I know it's not me doing any of this stuff, but just to be able to feel like I am, it's, well, kind of amazing." He shrugged. "And it's not just the Intersect, either. It's the new cover too. It makes me feel like I'm finally standing on my feet, with my own company, even if it is a front and can't actually make any money."

"Actually, it is," Sarah spoke up. "Beckman told me that this is the first front they've set up that's actually turning a profit. It might make up for all the money lost with the other ones: the Orange Orange, the Weinerlicious, Captain Jack's Fish and Chips, Radio Hut, …"

"Thanks for saying that, but you know it's not really me."

"It's a computer business, Chuck. Of course it's really you."

Chuck shrugged, though he appreciated what she was saying. "And then there's Casey."

"Yeah, what about Casey? You two seem awfully chummy."

"It's not some NSA ploy," Chuck quickly interjected.

"I know," Sarah responded. "If it was, I _would _know what's going on. But I really don't."

"It's nothing really. It's kind of stupid, actually."

"Just tell me."

"Well, I guess ever since I uploaded the new intersect, it's like Casey's been looking at me differently. It's almost like me might actually respect me now."

"That's not stupid, Chuck. Casey saw that you chose to upload the new Intersect, even though you could have had a normal life. Casey respects that kind of a sacrifice."

Chuck thought he detected a hint of iron in her voice just then and said, "I haven't been avoiding you, Sarah. It's just, I guess I've got caught up in things. And I guess you're the one person that knows all of this is just fake."

"It's not fake. Like it or not, that Intersect is part of you now."

Chuck noticed the hard edge creep back into her voice. "You didn't want me to upload it, did you?"

"At first, I thought you were doing it because you didn't want…" She shook her head. "I realized finally that you did it because of who you are. Casey's right about respecting you for that."

Chuck looked over at Sarah seated next to him. She seemed to be letting down her guard, at least for a moment. "Earlier, you said that I need you. You're right. I've never doubted that. I need you for a lot of reasons. You've been my protector, you've helped me believe in myself, and… well, a lot of other reasons. But after everything, I have to ask, do you need me?"

For a while Sarah didn't say anything, and Chuck found himself regretting that he hadn't asked the question earlier, crowded dinner table or no. Sober Sarah was still a lot more cautious than drunk Sarah.

"Yes."

At first he hadn't realized she'd spoken. He finally turned to look at her. She wasn't looking at him, but was staring at her hands folded in her lap.

"I've spent so much of my life undercover, being different people, that I've lost sight of who I am. Before I met you, I could barely remember who I was. But now, I feel like I know Sarah Walker better than I know… the person with the name I was born with." She finally looked at him. "I need you, Chuck, because you make me real."

"I guess this would be a bad time to make a 'Pinocchio' joke, huh?"

Sarah gave him a less-than-CIA-strength punch on the shoulder. "Now how do you expect me to talk about myself if you just turn around and make fun of me?" Despite her words, Sarah smiled, and put her hand on his.

They sat there quietly like this for a moment. Chuck looked up at the lamp standing across the room. Casey had told him that he hardly ever monitored surveillance when Sarah was there, but he wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.

"So now what?"

"Now?" Sarah smiled briefly.

"Now that we…need each other. What happens?"

Sarah turned her head on the pillow to look at him. "We go on being what each other needs. Whatever that may be."

Chuck nodded briefly. "Actually, I was thinking more about what happens tonight?"

Sarah gave him a sly smile, and leaned closer to him. She whispered, "Tonight? We sleep."

Chuck's disappointment was quickly covered by a yawn. He lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling tired.

"Chuck?"

"Hmm…"

"There's one other thing I should tell you."

"Yeah?" Chuck could hear the sleepiness in Sarah's voice, but her willingness to talk about herself was something he couldn't pass up.

"Your sister asked me Casey is in love with you."

He turned to her in surprise, and saw the amused look in her eye. "What did you tell her?"

"I said I didn't know."

"Oh." Chuck's thought about this for a few moments, his own exhaustion starting to slow him down. "Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah. We might be able to take advantage of that." Chuck turned to Sarah and grinned.

"That's not going to make him happy. I thought you liked being his friend."

"I'd do something to screw it up sooner or later anyway, and, you said I was spending too much time with him anyway. At least this way we can have some fun with him."

"Ok. Chuck?"

"Hmm?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Chuck woke up to feel a heavy weight on arm. He looked over to see Sarah's head on his shoulder. He briefly pushed her hair out of her face, careful not to wake her.

It's the closest they had been for months. Chuck decided he would have to tell Ellie that they needed more family dinners.

_End (this time I mean it)_

_I think._


End file.
